4.0 uw/4.4 w
1600 SAT (one test, not superscored)
10 APs (5 this year) 5s on all tests taken
800 SAT2
NMSF
Class President 3 years
Leadership in several other organizations
State honors in music (submitted music supplement)
Volunteer religion teacher 4 years
Published in national newspaper
Part-time job
UR was one of his top choices, but without merit it will most likely be unaffordable. I know you can’t win em all, but we did think he had a good shot at at least the Presidential scholarship.
Congrats to everyone accepted. Looks like it was a super competitive group who applied!
My DD got in with the Presidential Scholarship.
3.88 UW / 5.01 W GPA
11 APs (4s & 5s in the exams)
1500 SAT
35 ACT (Superscored)
Community Service Mentoring
Varsity Track
NHS treasurer
NHHS President
Part Time Job
2nd Job in the summer
If you ask me, I’d say her Personal Statement and her Richmond supplement were very strong. We are also from Miami, FL, which means that her demographics probably played in her favor. Latina with multicultural background, bilingual. I mean, trying to see what might have set her apart, since other kids here seem as qualified or even more qualified than her.
It surely is a no common sense game, folks!
My guess is he’s in the running for the Richmond Scholars. The year my S applied, there were kids who didn’t get the Presidential who got the Scholars.
From the post 152, click the link, and UR website says
“Congratulations to our Richmond Scholar Finalists!
All finalists have been notified of their status in the Spider Portal.”
So in another words, if your portal does not show you are invited to this, you are not in.
There wasn’t any mention of merit in his acceptance letter and no attachment indicating he’s a Richmond Scholar finalist, as others here have on their portals. Since the UR website says that all finalists have been notified, we think he was just passed over for any merit.
For additional reference, we’re in state, middle class, white, and did visit the campus pre-covid.
It seems there were many qualified candidates this year. But, of course, I am sad for him, because he really likes UR.
As I mentioned above, she had withdrawn all applications and was surprised to be notified of a decision from UR. My point was decisions can be unpredictable — like a puzzle the schools try to put together a class that will be diverse and work well together. It’s hard to know which pieces of that puzzle they are looking to fill. My experience with my kids at least is that you can expect some surprises — both good and bad. Best wishes to all!!
@vachildx3 does your S have other acceptances? If he does and this early round is going well then maybe this is an oversight but it’s really odd to contact an admissions office and ask if they made a “mistake”. If he has not had any acceptances yet, you might want to double check him app and make sure there’s not something wrong. Or talk to your son’s guidance counselor and see if you can get insight into the recs. Maybe something is off.
I’m curious as to whether the “Why we said yes” section is personalized. Would anyone be willing to share theirs? Son was accepted:
Test optional
4.0 GPA (W)
7 APs (including online classes the school doesn’t have)
Letters of rec from local politicians
volunteer time/ shadowing with same
president of NHS, VP of student body
4 sport athlete - captain of baseball and football teams
Why we said yes:
“Among nearly 14,000 outstanding applications, yours stood out. We are impressed by your academic achievements and by your talents and interests. It’s clear you possess both the intellect to thrive at Richmond and the character to make important contributions to our community.”
Yes, he’s been accepted EA to two others in addition to UR, one with substantial merit, the other doesn’t announce scholarships until March. He’s waiting on Villanova’s EA decision next week, then has a few reach schools he did RD.
Not really sure how to phrase a question like that to an AO; as you say, it strikes me as weird (and presumptive!) to ask if they made a mistake. Maybe he’ll contact his HS counselor and ask her opinion…
Thanks, everyone, for the advice; I’m new to this forum and appreciate the input.
Hi. I was accepted with Presidential Scholarship a couple days ago and these are my stats:
GPA: 3.995 W (no UW but probably around 3.82)
SAT: 1430 with 710 english and 720 math
6 AP’s with Bio(4), World History (4), English Lang (5 without the class)
No rank
Ec’s: President of spanish honor society, NHS math tutor/member, family responsibilities working with sister who has a learning disability, esl tutoring, orchestra pianist all four years, literary magazine staff, member of medical club & more.
Demographics:
Hispanic/white female
Competitive private school in the north east
Middle class
Overall: essays were really strong and were probably what got me in with pres. scholarship. My grades are good but my gpa is really deflated due to competitive environment.
Congrats to everyone who was accepted & good luck to those who were deferred!
Yeah. I would not contact Richmond about merit. They had a lot of apps and scores maybe weren’t the leading factor when giving merit. I think the Richmond Scholars are typically kids who have attained national status in something they’ve done or have done serious research. From what I’ve heard so far, it does seem like most Presidentials were given to very impressive kids who bring some diversity.
Accepted w/ Presidential Scholarship. No financial aid package yet. I’m in a rigorous international school in China (have always been overseas & move frequently)
GPA 3.98 W, SAT 1420, all IB Courses. 4 years - NHS Pres, Teaching English Service Group, HS Musicals, Choir, Theater. Other - Summer Program Intern, newspaper founder & copy editor, Sunday School volunteer, Leadership Program. Female Performer of the Year, Performing Arts Student of the Year, All-Conference Choir MVP, All-Conference Theater MVP & MIP.
Wrote about service experience with the Roma people in Romania and speaking up for the marginalized & connecting with the local community - pretty good (kind of better than CA essay). CA essay is about growth as a performer & becoming more flexible - encouraging girls and sending a message through music.